Archive

#10 Saving Private Ryan (1998)

This American World War 2 masterpiece now comes with crisp DTS Surround Sound and 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio making the first 25 minutes sound better than ever. Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Edward Burns. The film is unfortunately missing a director’s commentary track but more than makes up for it with 10 in-depth featurettes showing the making of Saving Private Ryan.

#9 Alien Anthology (1979-1997)

Any true Alien fan knows the last two in the series were garbage but the first two were masterpieces. This Anthology is worth the price simply for Alien and Aliens directed by Ridley Scott and James Cameron. All the films look outstanding with the HD transfer, DTS surround sound and a 2.35:1 Aspect ratio makes the claustrophobia come alive on-screen. Starring Sigourney Weaver.

#8 Iron Man (2008)

Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and a 2.35:1 Aspect ratio make this instant Superhero classic a must own for any home theater library. Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark/ Iron Man directed by Jon Favreau. This disk is loaded with special features chronicling the entire production of Iron Man.

#7 The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Now if they only included the Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon Soundtrack this would be an awesome Blu Ray transfer. Unfortunately for us they didn’t but The Wizard of Oz looks crisp with an amazing HD transfer and tons of special features.

#6 Inception (2010)

The mind trip of the century directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Leonardo DiCaprio should only be purchased on Blu ray. Don’t waste your money buying the inferior DVD.

#5 The Godfather Trilogy Coppola Restoration

“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Francis Ford Coppola supervised the High Def transfer of this crime epic and it looks outstanding. Includes all the Godfather films including the inferior Part 3 with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

#4 Fight Club (1999)

This wickedly funny and brutal Blu Ray edition includes a host of special features including full commentary with Director David Fincher and stars Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. Includes DTS Surround sound and 2.40:1 aspect ratio and amazing picture clarity.

#3 The Dark Knight (2008)

The Greatest Superhero adventure comes alive with an extended Blu Ray edition with plenty of special features, 5.1 Digital Surround sound and 2.40:1 aspect ratio with included IMAX sequences in 1.78:1. Buy this today before your balls fall off.

#2 Avatar (2009)

This mind numbing adventure on Pandora looks outstanding on Blu Ray with a 3 disc extended edition including never seen footage, in-depth documentaries and full length Directors commentary from James Cameron. DTS Surround sound Master Audio 5.1, 1.78:1 aspect ratio and Directors extended cut including 16 extra minutes and an alternate opening on Earth. Make sure you buy the 3 disc collectors edition instead of the inferior Theatrical edition.

#1 Apocalypse Now (1979)

The greatest War film ever created finally comes to Blu ray with the Full disclosure edition including the original 1979 version, Apocalypse Now Redux and the in-depth full length making of Documentary Hearts of Darkness chronicling the hellish 18 month shoot to create this masterpiece. Director Francis Ford Coppola definitive edition to his Vietnam War classic.

Coming soon to Blu Ray September 6, 2011

Scarface (1983) Al Pacino

Tony Montana will return from the dead in this ultimate Blu Ray edition of the 80’s gangster classic available 9/6/2011.

Inception ****

While watching this amazingly original science fiction tale I couldn’t help but think to myself what exactly was Christopher Nolan thinking when he created the concept for this utter mind trip of a movie? I enjoyed the highly original premise (something rarely seen in Hollywood anymore) but at what cost? I felt like I had lost my mind after watching this.

This nightmarish film was a huge hit in the summer of 2010 because it asks the viewer to do one simple thing. Just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. Something that is not to hard to carry out judging by all the mindless drivel we are subjected to on reality TV.

Leonardo DiCaprio is at the top of his game playing Dom Cobb, a secret agent whose “job” is to extract illegal information from the unconscious minds of his targets but gets wrapped up in the dangerous world of corporate espionage and offered one last chance at redemption by being given the highly impossible task of “Inception”, the planting of an idea into a subject’s mind as opposed to extracting it.

Does your brain hurt from that description? Do you still follow? No worries. There is plenty of Matrix style digital action and clever dialogue to keep your brain guessing the entire time and to give off the illusion that you are smarter than you actually are.

Christopher Nolan has proven himself a master film-maker with recent classics such as The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, The Prestige and of course everybody’s favorite backwards revenge tale Memento. But I feel with this film he started to finally believe all the hype and drowned in his own creative genius and made a film that is far too complex and convoluted with details. The film is definitely ahead of its time and will surely be considered a work of cinematic genius.